The launch of Fortnite’s OG season in November 2023 has fuelled significant growth for the title across virtually every metric. The content update took players back to the original Chapter 1 map and re-introduced numerous items from the earliest seasons of the game, with the content gradually evolving over several updates throughout November. As a result, Ampere’s Games Analytics data reveals that monthly active users increased by over half, and 45% of all gamers who played the title on PlayStation or Xbox in November were not seen playing in the month prior: Essentially, the OG season pulled huge numbers of lapsed or semi-lapsed players back into the game.

However, perhaps the most impressive growth was seen in the total hours spent in the game across these platforms. In October, Fortnite still topped the ranking at around 600m, but was within touching distance of the likes of EA Sports FC 24 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (inc. Warzone 2.0 and MWIII early access). In November, though, total hours spent in the game approached 1.5bn, completely dwarfing any other title, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (inc. Warzone 2.0) in second place at under 600m – less than half that of Fortnite. EA Sports FC 24 also slipped down the ranking, as Fortnite undoubtedly sapped hours from existing, popular titles. The release of the new content has rendered the already-top-performing title impossibly dominant.

Six months of Netflix viewing hours pale in comparison to single month of Fortnite playtime

By comparison, recently-released viewing figures from Netflix highlight the most popular series on the platform for the first six months of 2023. The Night Agent, which tops the ranking, racked up more than 800m hours of viewing time, at an average of 133m hours per month. For the same period, however, Fortnite accumulated an average of 630m total hours played per month – and this is excluding the enormous growth witnessed in November. Of course, gaming arguably is a far more involved medium: It is more mentally and physically taxing, and new experiences can be consistently created in persistent, online worlds. In a sense, there is no end to games like Fortnite, whereas the replayability factor for a Netflix series is undoubtedly far lower; there are multiple caveats to consider here. However, this still illustrates just how engaging the top-performing games can be, and also just how much consumer attention such titles are commanding.